New court fight over health care law UPDATE

Two federal appeals courts today have issued contradictor rulings on a key financing issue. The rulings came within hours of each other.

A divided court panel in Washington called into question the subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people pay their premiums. The court said financial aid can only be paid in states that have set up their own insurance exchanges.

But in Virginia, another appeals panel unanimously came to the opposite conclusion. That court said the IRS had correctly interpreted the will of Congress when it issued regulations allowing consumers nationwide to purchase subsidized coverage.

The White House says policyholders will keep getting financial aid as the administration sorts out the legal implications.

Both cases are part of a long-running political and legal campaign to overturn the health care law.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has delivered a serious setback to President Barack Obama’s health care law, potentially derailing subsidies for many low- and middle-income people who have bought policies.

If upheld, the decision could mean premium increases for more than half of the 8 million Americans who purchased taxpayer-subsidized insurance under the law.

It affects consumers who purchased their coverage through the federal insurance marketplace — or exchange— that serves 36 states.

A three-judge panel in Washington ruled 2-1 that the law, as written, only allows insurance subsidies in states that have set up their own exchanges. That invalidated an Internal Revenue Service regulation that allowed subsidies in all 50 states.